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A nine-year-old girl from Surrey is hoping that she can raise enough money to buy a new wheelchair, and keep her training going.
Gwen Foster, from Horley, has been racing for the past three years, but now needs new equipment. She has been using a special racing chair from her club, but that is now too small, and the next one available is far too big and giving her issues.
Her mother, Jenny said: “She’s been asking for her own chair for a while but they’re obviously very expensive. She just loves going training, she loves the banter with her team and all that sort of thing.
“We have got to a point where to keep that enjoyment going and for her to progress skills she needs a chair that is built for her.”
A custom frame is really important in racing and would help Gwen stay in the right position and avoid injury.
Jenny explained: “Any wheelchair whether it be a racing or a normal one is very specific to the individual. She’ll be able to go faster in a chair that’s the right size for her. She’ll be able to learn new skills because she’ll have the right arm length for the wheel turn and all those kinds of things.”
Racing is something that Gwen is very passionate about, and wants to do for the rest of her life. It is one of the reasons that Prince Harry honoured her last month, as part of the WellChild Awards.
Gwen was named as a winner at the national awards, which recognise seriously ill children, and celebrate the achievements of seriously ill children and those who care for them. She was chosen from hundreds of nominations and was called a “beacon of hope and inspiration” by the prince.
Jenny said the family was still overwhelmed by the award, adding: “Gwen just takes everything in her stride. She doesn’t understand that the award was so special that she’s never gonna get it again. She keeps saying can we go again next year? I don’t think she’s realised the enormity of it.
“We nominated her and of course you want your child to win, but the people that selected her thought that she deserved it and that it is still wow.”
Part of Gwen’s zest for life comes from her racing. Jenny explained; “She just loves the freedom and the independence and the speed that she gets.
“She goes to a mainstream school so she is the only child there in a wheelchair, so she stands out and when she goes wheelchair racing she’s the youngest there by about 10 years.
“They’ve just embraced her. She loves going there and being surrounded by other people that are in wheelchairs. They have these little chats and Gwen can be Gwen.”
“She goes to training twice a week and she also goes to Richmond Park on a Sunday morning. There’s a bit where she goes downhill and she just flies. She absolutely loves the speed, and I’m behind going ‘slow down Gwen’.”
To keep the training going, she is hoping to buy a whole new frame that can be customised to her measurements. The frame alone will cost almost £3,000, and a complete new racing chair would be nearly double that. However, Gwen is looking to reuse the wheels from her old chair to keep the price down.
Jenny explained: “We are just conscious that it’s an awful lot of money. If everything was new it would work better and give Gwen the opportunity to develop and learn new skills.”
So far the fundraiser has raised nearly £1,000, which has surprised the whole family. Jenny said: “We’ve been blown away really. I think it shows how much people think of Gwen, which is quite emotional really.
“Everybody wants their children to succeed. You want them to achieve the best they can and that doesn’t change just because you’ve got a disabled child. To know that there’s so many people behind you, that want the same thing for Gwen.We’re so grateful.”
You can find the fundraiser here.
Read more on Surrey Advertiser Online
